Dear Silas

Dear Silas Formerly Trey Parker, real name Silas Stapleton III, is a singer, rapper, and trumpeter from Jackson, Mississippi. Raised in a musical family – his father was an alto saxophonist – he began playing the piano at age eight and the trumpet at age 11. While at Bailey High School[1] he began freestyling, and created his first mixtape.

Dear Silas
BornSeptember 9, 1986 (1986-09-09) (age 34)
Genres
Years active2014–present
LabelsRCA Records
Associated acts
Aha Gazelle
Websitewww.dear-silas.com

He attended college at the University of Louisiana in Monroe, studying music performance,[2] but left before he graduated in order to pursue his music career. Music also took precedence over a standup comedy act he had developed.

For a time he stylized his stage name as SilaS,[3] before adopting the name Dear Silas.

The single "Gullah Gullah Island," which came out in February 2016, went viral when former NFL player Chad "Ocho Cinco" Johnson promoted it on his social media. The song imagined an all-black city and celebrated Gullah Geechee culture.[4] It was included on Silas' debut full-length album, The Day I Died, released October 2016.

Silas released his second album, The Last Cherry Blossom, on 19 October 2018. Lucky Town Brewing Company created a tie-in beer for the occasion.[5] The album featured production from Durdy Costello, Flywalker, Swat Team, Professor X, and Hollywood Luck, and appearances by Aha Gazelle, Vitamin Cea, Satchmo Phlanagan, Stephanie Luckett, and Compozitionz.[6][7]

Also in October 2018, he signed a record deal with RCA Records, which re-released The Last Cherry Blossom on 26 April 2019.[8]

It was while he and his producer/DJ were working at the Genius Bar at an Apple store in Jackson[9] that they conceived the song "Skrr Skrr." When released in December 2018, it became the No. 1 Viral Record on Spotify, where it was streamed over 2.6 million times in its first two weeks.[10] The song also entered the Top 40 on iTunes' Hip-Hop/Rap chart. He came to further notice in 2019 when a fan-made version of the "Dexter meme" clip was released in which the Dexter's Laboratory cartoon character is made to sing "Skrr Skrr" into a girl's ear.[11] In March Vevo presented DSCVR performances of both "Skrr Skrr" and "Under My Feet."[12]

References
  1. James-Terry, Rachel (27 December 2018). "Jackson rapper Dear Silas inks deal with RCA Records". Clarion Ledger. Retrieved 10 May 2019.
  2. Henderson, Sereena (7 January 2019). "More than a meme: A hip-hop artist is changing the narrative of making it in Mississippi". Sun Herald. Retrieved 10 May 2019.
  3. Smith, Micah (18 February 2016). "SilaS' 'Gullah Gullah Island' Goes National". Jackson Free Press. Retrieved 13 May 2019.
  4. Robertson, Darryl (17 February 2016). "Mississippi's Newcomer SilaS Imagines An All Black City On "Gullah Gullah Island"". Vibe. Retrieved 13 May 2019.
  5. Smith, Micah (3 October 2018). "SILAS: Hope, Hops & Hokage". Jackson Free Press. Retrieved 13 May 2019.
  6. Ivey, Justin (18 October 2018). "#DXCLUSIVE: SilaS Debuts "The Last Cherry Blossom" Album Stream". HipHopDX. Retrieved 13 May 2019.
  7. Collar, Matt. "Dear Silas". Allmusic. Retrieved 10 May 2019.
  8. James-Terry, Rachel (27 December 2018). "Jackson rapper Dear Silas inks deal with RCA Records". Jackson Clarion Ledger. Retrieved 10 May 2019.
  9. Collar, Matt. "Dear Silas". Allmusic. Retrieved 10 May 2019.
  10. "Spotify Chart United States Daily - Viral - 2018-11-22". SpotOnTrack. 22 November 2018. Retrieved 13 May 2019.
  11. Henderson, Sereena (4 January 2019). "Bigger than the Dexter meme: How Dear Silas is changing the narrative of making it in Mississippi". Mississippi Today. Retrieved 10 May 2019.
  12. "Dear Silas Shares Vevo Live Performance of SKRR SKRR and UNDER MY FEET". Broadway World. 18 March 2019. Retrieved 13 May 2019.
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